


Imagination has no age

by notquiteascrazy



Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: Alec Lightwood Deserves Nice Things, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Fluff, M/M, Magorium was a warlock, Toy shops are the best place to destress ok, date day, especially magical toyshops, mr magorium's wonder emporium, slightly cracky
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-21
Updated: 2020-08-21
Packaged: 2021-03-06 16:48:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,446
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26032147
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/notquiteascrazy/pseuds/notquiteascrazy
Summary: “I just, I wonder what it would be like to have an actual childhood? I see these mundane kids on the play parks when I’m on patrol, on the swings or playing in sandboxes and they just look so happy?” he nuzzled in closer to Magnus’ neck. “When I was their age I was already fighting with training blades and the only game I was taught to play was the game of politics.”In an effort to give his husband the break he deserves, Magnus takes them for a day out at his old friend's magical toyshop.
Relationships: Magnus Bane/Alec Lightwood
Comments: 20
Kudos: 83
Collections: Fluff vs. Angst Battle 2020





	Imagination has no age

**Author's Note:**

> This is one of the SOFTEST things I've ever written and I have zero regrets.  
> Enjoy the fluff and silliness that ensues...  
> The title is part of a Walt Disney quote 💖  
> The mood board was made by the incredibly thoughtful and wonderful [Elle](https://bytheangell.tumblr.com/) \- thank you so much 😍😍
> 
> Also, it's not necessary to have seen Mr Magorium's Wonder Emporium but also... If you haven't, that movie is a joy 🥰

Alec flopped down onto the couch in the loft, bone tired and fed up. He wanted nothing more than to close his eyes and pretend the Institute didn’t exist for a while. Not that that was likely given he could hear the alert going on his phone already. He sat up slowly with a groan and fumbled on the coffee table, refusing to open his eyes until the last second. Swiping across the screen he saw that a hoard of ravener demons was causing trouble in midtown. He pushed himself up and started to make his way back to the door, dragging his feet as he went. He was just slinging his bow and quiver over his shoulder when his phone pinged again. A text message this time;

 **Izzy** : _Relax Alec, I’ll handle this one. You need the night off._

He debated calling her to argue the point but honestly, his head was pounding and he’d probably just be more of a burden than a help up against demons at this point.

He hung his weapons back up on the rack Magnus had conjured especially for him, smiling to himself as he toed his boots back off onto the ichor proof matting Magnus had laid down after he’d ruined the original hardwood floorboards following a particularly gruesome battle.

It was strange to him sometimes just how the loft had become home. It didn’t look all that different from when Magnus had lived here alone but if you looked closely, there were little details that represented Alec’s mark on the place. From the photo of the Lightwood siblings displayed proudly on the bookcase, to the black jacket thrown carelessly over the back of the armchair, stacks of Institute paperwork neatly piled on the corner of the coffee table and a spare stele on the kitchen island. Magnus had redecorated too, while the place was still a mismatch of colourful furniture and the walls still a far cry from the grey his room at the Institute had been painted, the decor was less ostentatious than it had been. He’d told Magnus that it didn’t matter to him what colours the walls were, but his husband had insisted that their familial home represent the merging of their lives before flicking his wrists and sending blue sparks dancing around the room. The colours he’d picked were more relaxed, still warm and friendly, but more muted than the vibrant reds and golds that had previously adorned the walls. Alec had to admit, it was a thoughtful touch and did make him feel slightly more at home than he had previously. Especially on nights like tonight when everything threatened to overwhelm him, the soft blue and green hues were calm and welcoming.

He dozed off, his head at an awkward angle despite Magnus having magically elongated the sofa so that he could stretch his long frame fully on it, awakening only when a soft kiss was placed to his forehead.

“Good evening, sleeping beauty,” his husband greeted him. Alec felt his legs be lifted slightly, before Magnus slotted himself underneath them, resting them back on his lap.

Alec pulled himself upright, leaning back on the arm of the couch and rubbing the sleep out of his eyes.

“What time is it?” He asked, voice soft and broken from just having awoken.

“A little after 9,” Magnus answered, smiling softly as he stroked gentle circles against Alec’s calf. “You look exhausted darling. I hope your day wasn’t too horrific?”

“I don’t think horrific does it justice, really.” Alec smiled weakly, despite himself. He could already feel some of the tension seeping out of him just from Magnus’ presence.

“I still have the clave breathing down my neck about the fallout from the whole Jonathon thing, plus Jace is losing his mind over Clary, well, losing her mind. Izzy’s the only sane person at the Institute right now, and even she’s wrapped up in this thing she’s got going on with Simon.” He scrubbed a hand against his face, “Throw in an accident involving three new recruits and a seraph blade, plus all the paperwork that came along with that. This week just needs to end and it’s only Tuesday.”

“I’m sorry darling.” Magnus murmured, keeping up the soothing pattern he was rubbing into Alec’s leg. “Is there anything I can do?”

“You’re here, what more could I need?”

“Sap.”

“You love it,” Alec teased. “It’s just, I can’t remember a time where I’ve not been under pressure? The whole ‘eldest child’ thing is a big enough deal to Shadowhunters without the Lightwood family name to uphold. I feel like I’ve been fighting tooth and nail my entire life and the only self-indulgent thing I’ve ever got to do is marry you.”

Magnus made a noise somewhere in the back of his throat, not sure how to respond to the statement.

“It’s also the best thing I’ve ever done in my life. And if it’s the only self-indulgent thing I’ll ever do then I’ll be happy with that. You know that, right?” Alec sat up straighter, pulling his legs out of Magnus’ lap so he could twist himself round and lean against his husband. “I love you so much.”

“And I love you,” Magnus’ hand found Alec’s hair, where his head was resting against his shoulder. He began loosely twirling the strands around his fingers, massaging softly at his scalp. Alec groaned at the sensation.

“I just, I wonder what it would be like to have an actual childhood? I see these mundane kids on the play parks when I’m on patrol, on the swings or playing in sandboxes and they just look so happy?” he nuzzled in closer to Magnus’ neck. “When I was their age I was already fighting with training blades and the only game I was taught to play was the game of politics.”

Magnus grimaced, well aware that Shadowhunters rarely got to experience the wonder of childhood. Of course they wouldn’t. Childhood was about cultivating creativity, imagination, individuality. Shadowhunters were bred to be soldiers and encouraging childish traits wasn’t conducive to that.

“Sometimes I just wish I could be a kid, even just for a day. Just stop having to protect everyone all the time. No paperwork, no clave bullshit. Just a day where someone else has to be responsible for a change.” He sucked in a deep breath, looking sheepishly through his eyelashes at Magnus.

It wasn’t often that Alec ranted in this fashion, but usually when he did it meant that things had reached breaking point. But his words had reminded Magnus of an old acquaintance and he had the inklings of a plan forming in his mind. For now though, there were at least a few comforts he could offer his husband.

“Would you like me to get us some dinner in or would you prefer to go straight to bed? Oh, or I could run us a bath?”

“A bath would be really nice actually,” Alec smiled softly, his hazel eyes full of adoration, “but only if you’ll join me.”

“Of course, Alexander. Come on then,” he got to his feet, holding out a ringed hand to his husband. He sent a flicker of magic in the direction of the bathroom, filling the bathtub with hot water and bubbles ready for them.

Magnus led them to the bathroom and magicked away their clothes. The giant clawfoot tub standing pride of place in the middle of the room and the soft scent of lavender on the air. Alec stepped into the water, barely containing the groan of pleasure at the sensation as his skin prickled at the sudden heat.

Lowering himself into the water something bumped against his knee. Reaching out and lifting it up, he laughed.

“A rubber duck, really Magnus?”

“You said you wanted to be childish for a change. There’s a toy submarine floating in there somewhere too,” Magnus grinned down at him.

Alec reached up a soapy hand, wrapping it around his husband’s neck and pulling him in close for a kiss. He pulled away just enough to rest their foreheads together, their noses brushing.

“You’re amazing,” he murmured, thankful for Magnus’ silly antics and the hot water for chasing away any ill feelings that remained.

~~~

It wasn’t until the following week that Alec finally got a day off. He’d fully intended to spend the day lazing around the loft, ideally with as few clothes as possible on and enjoying the company of his husband. Magnus had already told him he’d cancelled his clients for the day and threatened all New York warlocks with exile should they dare disturb him so it was a bit of a surprise to find himself being woken by the curtains being flung open and bright light streaming into their bedroom before 9 AM.

“Here you go, sleepyhead, we’ve got a busy day ahead of us.” Magnus placed a coffee down on the bedside table, brushing a kiss to Alec’s temple. He was already dressed in tight fitting black trousers and an indigo shirt covered with a black patterned waistcoat and matching cravat. As delectable as he looked like this, hair styled tall and flecked with violet streaks, Alec would much rather be cuddled up to his warm skin under the covers.

Alec struggled to sit up against the silk pillows, body still pliant and soft from sleep. He opened his mouth to question Magnus on what these mystery plans were but a finger was placed against his lips, shushing him instead.

“Uh-uh, you need to drink your coffee then get yourself dressed. Today is a surprise,” Magnus smiled down at him, excitement sparkling in his eyes.

Alec took a sip of the black liquid, almost instantly feeling rejuvenated. He was never sure if Magnus gave his coffee a magic pep or if it was just the fact that it was higher quality than the sludge he was used to drinking at the Institute. Sitting up against the headboard, he watched as Magnus pottered around the room, his hips gently swaying in time to the tune he hummed to himself as he topped up the water in the plants and moved various nick nacks around. Magnus was clearly restless and excited for the day but Alec could tell that his husband was fighting the urge to rush him, giving him the option to take his time on his day off. Emotion welled up in his chest, threatening to overcome him. He put his mug down so he could rise from the bed and crossed the room in three long strides to sweep his husband up in a hug. Wrapping his arms around him from behind, he lowered his head to nuzzle soft kisses into the skin behind his ear.

“Thank you for today Magnus,” he whispered.

“We haven’t gone anywhere yet,” Magnus replied, turning in his arms and pecking a quick kiss to his nose. “Though now you’re upright, how about putting some clothes on so we can get to your surprise? As much as I love you shirtless, it’s not appropriate where we’re going and I think my plans are worth the compromise.”

Alec laughed and hurried to the bathroom, keen to enjoy whatever Magnus had planned for them that was clearly building such anticipation.

A quick shower later, he wandered back into the bedroom, a towel slung low on his hips.

“Umm, Magnus, if I don’t know what you have planned then I don’t know what I should wear?”

When he had first met Magnus, Alec’s wardrobe choices had been limited to what he called ‘fighting demons’ clothing and ‘fighting idiots’ clothing, or office attire as it was more commonly known. Magnus had expanded his horizons considerably and while he still didn’t know much about what was fashionable, or really care, it made his husband happy and so it made him happy. Especially as Magnus never pushed him too far out of his comfort zone - finding outfits that fit every occasion he could wish to drag Alec to without ever making him feel trapped in his clothes.

“This will do,” Magnus held out a pair of plain black jeans and a soft charcoal-grey sweater causing Alec’s eyes to light up. That meant whatever they had planned would be relatively casual at least and after the last couple of weeks, Alec needed casual!

Ten minutes later they were strolling down the sidewalk together, Alec still none the wiser as to their destination. Orange-red leaves littered the sidewalk and a cool breeze whipped through their hair. Autumn had well and truly reached New York City and Alec was relishing having someone to hold hands with. He tightened his grip on Magnus’ hand slightly, feeling Magnus squeeze back and exchanging a soft smile before he was tugged down another street.

The buildings around them became increasingly commercial as they made their way out of the more residential area and onto the main streets. He’d lost count of how many blocks they’d walked or where exactly they were heading but Magnus was leading with confidence and Alec felt truly relaxed.

“We’re here,” Magnus announced, releasing Alec’s hand to throw his arms in the air and gesture at a colourful storefront.

The store itself stood out from the rest of the block, completely eclipsing the hardware store and the bodega it was sandwiched between. It gave the effect that it was bursting at the seams, pushing its neighbouring buildings out the way in the effort to contain all that waited within. Turquoise paint decorated the window edges, framing the contents within them. The left hand display was full of stuffed toys, from tiny little bears to an almost life-size zebra, to frogs and monkeys and sheep. A dragon suspended in the air let out little puffs of smoke at intervals. The right hand display was already depicting a Christmas scene, with fake snow falling gently from above to decorate the village scene below where a steam train ran along it’s tracks and small figurines moved around. A hand painted sign above the door, decorated with curly gold script read “Mr Magorium’s Wonder Emporium”.

“A toy store?” Alec asked, eyes wide at the sight in front of him but confused as to whether this was where Magnus intended to bring him.

“Not just any toy store, a _magical_ toy store.” He stepped up to the door where a sign read ‘Adults strictly forbidden’ and pushed it open, causing the bell above to tinkle musically. “Come on, Alexander. Adventure awaits!”

Alec smiled at his husband, willing to humor him, at least for now.

Stepping into the store itself his jaw dropped - he didn’t know where to look first. His senses were assaulted by vibrant colours and noise. _Everything_ seemed to be moving and that wasn’t just driven by the sheer number of children running about the place. The products themselves seemed to come to life. Alec knew magic was real, he was part angel himself after all, but this was something else! Every space was occupied by shelves stuffed full of toys and games, even the space above his head was occupied by pterodactyls and spaceships and all sorts of other airborne creations. Even a winged horse who’s glittered mane and tail flowed behind him despite the lack of wind.

A little boy crashed into his shins at that moment, hurrying out a “Sorry, Mr,” before running after the toy airplane he was chasing through the air. Somewhere a lion’s roar echoed making Alec jump. The noise wasn’t necessarily menacing, if anything it was playful, but still out of place in a building in New York City.

“Magnus!” A soft, feminine voice cried out from the centre of the shop. The owner of which was revealed to be a petite girl behind the counter. She wiped her paint covered hands on her blue apron before lifting a section of the circular counter to duck under and greet them. She paused before she could reach them however, to pick up a slinky that had been knocked to the floor by the movement of the counter. Lowering her hand to the ground, the slinky seemed to jump into her palm, allowing her to lift it to face level. “Sorry little fella,” she whispered, before placing it gently back on the counter. It twitched briefly before lifting it’s top coils and arching over, setting off in a fast loop around the entire counter, almost as if it were chasing itself. Alec’s jaw almost hit the floor as he followed it’s progress with wide eyes.

An elbow to the ribs reminded him of Magnus’ presence.

“As I was saying Mahoney, this is my husband, Alexander Lightwood-Bane.”

“Alec, please,” he reached out and shook the offered hand.

“So Edward left the place entirely to you in the end?” Magnus asked her gently as they followed her around the store.

“Yes, it was quite the surprise! But I’ve had a lot of help. Little Eric - well he’s not so little anymore, he graduates high school next summer - still comes to visit on weekends. And Mutant’s almost always here.”

“Mutant?” Alec asked, confused by the turn the conversation had taken.

“Ah, I just call him that to wind him up. His name’s actually Henry. Mr Magorium hired him to sort the finances almost a decade ago, I think he’s just started on the books from 1976! Though obviously, there are a lot of distractions here.” She grinned at them both.

“Sarah, you look wonderful and fearsome!” She commented to a young girl who had skipped up to them clutching at a plastic bow, bright purple butterfly wings strapped to her back and a knight’s helm perched on her head. “Did you defeat the laser-eyed robot?”

Her tone was serious and her face completely straight as she talked to Sarah, as if she genuinely believed in the threat of the robot.

Sarah’s face fell, her bottom lip wobbling as she answered, “No, my arrows kept dropping to the ground so I couldn’t beat it.”

Alec was still completely overwhelmed by the entire situation but a little girl with an archery problem? You’d have to be a particular brand of mean-spirited to not want to help out. Crouching down to eye level with her he held out his hand. “Hi Sarah, I’m Alec. Do you mind if I take a look at your bow? I might be able to fix it before the robot has a chance to hurt anyone.”

Her big-blue eyes widened, “Really?” She asked him, offering out her weapon.

He took the bow and realised instantly that the string attached to the toy was far too loose. He inspected it for a moment before unknotting one end of the string and pulling it tighter. Tying it back up, he gave the string a quick tug and loosed it to ‘ _twang’_ satisfyingly.

“There you go,” he passed the bow back to the young girl. “That should defeat the evil robot.”

“He’s not evil, he’s just misunderstood. I only want to shoot him in the ear. That will turn the lasers off.” Sarah responded solemnly, before turning on her heel and running off.

Alec stood up and made eye contact with Magnus, brow furrowed in confusion. Magnus, helpful as ever, just chuckled at him and looped his arm through Alec’s.

“Come on, there’s an office back here where we can take a moment away from the chaos and have a cup of tea. We’ll explain all there.” Mahoney offered, leading them towards the rear of the shop.

They squished into the small office, Mahoney hoisting herself up to perch on the edge of a cluttered desk, leaving Magnus and Alec to share a small, overstuffed orange sofa. As soon as Alec lowered himself onto the seat, a loud fart noise ripped through the air.

“Sorry,” Mahoney said through her giggles. “It does that to maybe every fourth person? I should have warned you.”

Magnus clicked his fingers, magicking a takeaway cup into each of their hands. “Chai, right?” He addressed Mahoney, confirming that he’d remembered correctly from his last visit.

“So I take it this place isn’t your average mundane toy shop then?” Alec asked, removing the lid from his coffee and blowing over the steaming surface.

“It’s not,” Mahoney grinned over at him, her eyes alight. “It’s the most magical place on earth. And you can tell Disney I said that!” She stuck her tongue out to punctuate her sentence.

“This is Mr Magorium’s Wonder Emporium, Mr Magorium himself opened it back in 1801.” She explained, “If you want the full story, I can introduce you to Bellini. He was Mr Magorium’s personal biographer.”

“But now you run this place?” Alec inspected her, trying to get any reading as to what she might be but nothing was forthcoming. There was magic everywhere seemingly, just not with Mahoney. “But, you’re mundane right?”

“Is anything truly mundane?” Mahoney challenged, tilting her head to one side. “I mean, really, magic is in what we make it. But yes, in answer to your question, I am, by your definition at least, Mundane.”

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to offend you,” Alec murmured, suddenly feeling even more out of place.

“It’s ok. I think it’s surprising to most ‘in the know’ folks that I can keep this place running in Mr Magorium’s absence. He’s been gone almost a decade now and I still look up every time the door goes in the hopes he’ll be back.” Her face fell slightly as she kicked her legs back and forth under the table, suddenly looking very young.

“You know that’s not going to happen though, right? Edward is gone now.” Magnus explained softly, standing and laying a gentle hand on her shoulder.

“Is he though? I just assumed he needed a break after running this place for two centuries,” her voice wavered slightly.

“He loved this store Molly, more than anything else in this world. We both know that. That’s why he gave it everything he had, every drop of his own magic.” Magnus said. Turning to Alec he explained, “Edward Magorium was a young warlock when I first met him. He didn’t understand why we hid our magic in the way we did, he didn’t understand why we didn’t use it for ‘ _the betterment of humanity_ ’. His idea of using his magic for good was quite out there. He was an eccentric, even by our standards and spurned any of the norms of life as a warlock. Instead, he made it his mission to weave magic into the lives of mundane children. Teaching them imagination and creativity. Adults come here and assume it’s clever animatronics or mundane engineering. What you’re actually witnessing is Edward’s spirit woven into the entire building. He poured his magic into everything you see around you, giving more and more until he had nothing left.”

Mahoney sobbed next to him, her face crumpled with anguish. A small, stuffed rabbit hopped across the desk and into her arms offering her comfort.

“Thank you, Mr. Hops,” She hiccupped, cuddling it tightly to her chest.

“He came to visit me a month before his death, asking if there was anything I could do to help as he was getting weaker. But by that point, it was too late. He’d given too much of himself away.” Magnus looked down sadly, fidgeting with his rings as he was prone to do in particularly difficult conversations. “He’s definitely not coming back. But he’s also not truly gone, he exists in every molecule that makes up everything that this store is. Warlocks are immortal, our magic goes on existing forever. If we die in battle, it comes with us into the afterlife, but in the case of Edward? He lives on in this store. This is his life, his magic… his legacy.”

Mahoney continued to sob softly, the bunny pressed close to her face.

“I’m sorry, my dear. I didn’t mean to dredge up painful memories. But there comes a point where hope becomes an unhealthy fixation if it will never come to anything.” He pulled her against him in a tight hug. “How about we give you a bit of time. Mr. Hops seems like he’ll take good care of you?”

Mahoney nodded against his chest, Magnus gave her one final squeeze before making eye contact with Alec and nodding his head towards the door back into the store.

Outside the quiet of the office, the shop floor was just as overwhelming as the first time he’d seen it. The floor in front of him giving way to a sandbox in which several children sat happily constructing a gravity defying castle.

“Come on, let me show you Edward’s most fantastic invention. It’ll be quieter than the madness out here, I promise.”

He took Alec’s hand and led him to the very back of the store where a large black door stood imposingly against the bright red walls. To the right of the door, a large dial with a turquoise face and a gold handle was fitted. On the face black lettering declared multiple options. Magnus stroked his chin gently for a moment before turning the dial to “Trains”.

The movement of the dial was accompanied by the distant sound of cogs turning before the door in front of them clicked. Pushing on the large silver handle, Magnus opened it to reveal a room similar to the window display they’d seen earlier. The door opened onto a train station platform where a deep green steam engine sat, smoke billowing from it’s chimney. Magnus opened the door to the cab of the train, pulling out a blue flat-cap and placing it on top of Alec’s head, wiggling it until it sat properly on his messy hair.

“Well, a train needs a driver,” Magnus said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world when Alec gaped in confusion. He ushered his husband into the cab of the train before sliding into the bench behind the driver’s seat.

The dashboard in the cab had a couple of dials showing engine pressure and speed, both of which were hovering over zero, a large lever to the right had two settings “Go” and “Stop”. Alec pushed the lever into the “Go” position, feeling the whole train shudder beneath him. With halting movements, the train pulled away from the platform before settling into a steady pace.

Magnus reached over Alec’s shoulder to pull at a chain dangling from the roof of the cab causing the train to emit a loud “Choo-choo.” Alec couldn’t help the laugh that exploded out of him, leaning out the window to observe the scenery they passed by. Snow topped trees and a lake sped past the train window as they approached a tunnel ahead. Alec quickly ducked his head back inside the cab turning to grin at Magnus.

“How is this possible?” he asked, his eyes alight with excitement.

“Magic of course!” Magnus grinned back, leaning forward to peck him on the cheek.

The train emerged from the otherside of the mountain before winding down through a toy village. Characters carved from wood waved at them as they passed. Ahead a level crossing beeped in signal and lowered it’s railings ready for the train to pass through, a series of toy cars lining up at the road.

“Is… Is that road carpet?” Alec asked.

“Looks to be that way,” Magnus said, completely nonplussed. He was used to the eccentricities of his old friend. The way Magorium would weave the mundane toys with his magic to create something whimsical was a skill he would always admire.

The train meandered it’s way back to the station and Alec pulled down on the lever until it reached the stop position. The brakes squealed slightly as the train ground to a halt. He removed the hat from his head, placing it carefully on the seat ready for the next driver and hopped from the cab, grabbing Magnus’ hand and pulling him towards the door.

“Where next?” Magnus asked once they were back in the main room of the store. “We could try the ball room? Or the bouncing room?”

“Ballroom?” Alec scrunched his nose up. “You know I’m not a huge fan of dancing.”

“Ball. Room. Not ballroom.” Magnus ensured he enunciated the gap between the words, before spinning the dial accordingly, deciding a demonstration would probably work better than any explanation he could give.

Again, the cogs whirred and the door clicked, this time it was Alec who pushed on the handle to reveal a large room with bright purple walls. Shelves stacked with all sizes and styles of balls from ping pong balls to footballs to soccer balls adorned the walls. The room was alive with movement, with hundreds of balls spinning and bouncing across the mismatched wood flooring. A small, but brave, bouncy ball boinged over before bouncing off Alec’s elbow. He jumped in shock before closing the door to the room again, trapping the mayhem inside.

“Maybe not that one. What’s the paint zone?” He asked, already spinning the dial to the appropriate setting.

“Ah, that’s a fun one. I think you’ll enjoy it. Though I should warn you, it’s about to get messy.” Magnus grinned up at him.

The door opened again to reveal a large industrial looking space, where everything was painted black. Even with the splashes of neon paint in all the colours of the rainbow that adorned every surface, after the brightness of the shop the contrast was almost alarming. On either side of the door, large baskets stood filled with balloons - one set a lurid orange and the other set a bright green.

“Pick a colour Alexander,” Magnus gestured.

“I’ll take the green,” Alec decided, quickly cottoning on to what the room entailed. He grabbed as many of the balloons as he could before darting off and taking cover behind a large crate bolted to the floor. He peeked his head up to get his bearings before launching one of his balloons at Magnus’ retreating form. The balloon caught the back of his head, bursting, and with it spilled its contents of green paint down Magnus’ back.

His husband shrieked in surprise, turning and throwing an orange balloon back at him. Alec ducked in time though the splashes of the balloon exploding on the top of the crate still caught him. He crawled along the ground, thankful for his shadowhunter senses as he pinpointed where Magnus was moving on the other side of the room. He continued sneaking along the floor, careful to stay ducked behind the various obstacles of the room until he was close enough to see Magnus’ shadow. Using that as a focus point he launched another balloon, going for a high sharp arc which curved it’s way through the air and, judging by his husband’s swear, found its mark.

They traded a few more projectiles, some finding their marks, others bouncing harmlessly off their surroundings. Both of them were breathless with laughter but unwilling to admit defeat. Alec threw his last balloon, knowing that the shaking from his laughter would probably affect his ability to hit his mark. It was fine though, he wasn’t in training now. There were no other shadowhunters around to judge his marksmanship, this was just him and Magnus enjoying themselves.

“I’m out,” he called across the room to declare the game over. Standing to make his way back to the door he was startled by the woosh of a portal behind him.

“Unlucky, because I’m not!” Magnus’ voice was musical with joy as he proceeded to bombard Alec with his remaining paint balloons, smushing them into his husband's already messy hair.

“Eugh, thanks Magnus,” Alec grimaced with no real malice. He pulled Magnus into a hug, nuzzling his paint-sticky hair up against his husband’s cheek to smear some of the colour over him.

Stepping back with a chuckle, they eyed each other up and down taking in their messy paint covered appearance.

Magnus pulled out his phone, “I hate to spoil the moment, but I feel like we need to capture this occasion.”

Alec laughed and stepped in close for the photo. “Yes, I think this might even eclipse our wedding photos.”

He pressed a chaste kiss to Magnus’ cheek, grimacing at the feel of paint against his lips.

“Hmmm, I think you should portal us home now. As much fun as today has been - and thank you, I needed this - we both need showers. And then I need to show you just how thankful I am for this silly idea of yours.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to [Lauren](https://archiveofourown.org/users/taburosa/pseuds/taburosa) for beta'ing this for me :)
> 
> You can also find me on [Twitter](https://twitter.com/notquiteascrazy)
> 
> Want to chat to other Malec fans? Come hang out in the [Malec Discord Server](https://discord.gg/5nBgEp8)!
> 
> Thanks for reading!  
> Lex 💜💜


End file.
